Daily State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 July 1868 — Page 2
161^1, W^^oflg^S^Stfltdlwg,
, Jatru.
DEH0CBA1IC NAflOKAIi TICKET.
HORATIO SEYMOUR,
•" ' v of JrwrTorit.' ‘
ro» tick pimiMirr, General FRANCIS P. BLAIR, Jr., Of DEMOCRATIC STATE TICKET.!
Bis fltally oon«l«t«d of hl»_ j,*on,' ‘ ibfi RHH •d Into the wood* for pMtnro, and It wm
ss:
to fulfil too deatiny of Whatarar came andar ita daadly aim, • Indiana Included. Whanever It waa neveaaary for the boy to
For ftoranor, Tlioaaaa A. Hendrlaka, of Marlon. * For Llratonant Oorarnor, AlArod F. IDdfOrt—| of Alloa. For S#cr«tary of Buu, . BBVBSN C. K1SB, of Boone. For Auditor of State. JOSEPH V. BEMUSDAFFBK, of franklin. Tor Treaaurer of State, JAMES B. RYAN, of Marloa. For Clerk of Supreme Coart, NOAH S. LaROSE, of Caea. ./,
For Reporter of Snpreme Court, M. A. 0. PACKARD, ofMarihaU.
For Superinteadent of Pufell, Inatruetlon,' JOHN R. PHILLIPS, of DarieM. For Attorney Qenoral, SOLOMON CLAYPOOL, of PMaaa.
For Elooton at Latja,
imuTOfAfl/VK!!
untlnfton.
ContlBf.ntJ,
For Dlttrlot Elector!,
Flrit Diftrlot—Tboma. R. Cobb, of Knox. Contineent—R. S. Sproulo, of Vanderbura.
Second Dlitrict—-Jonas 0. Howard, of Clarke. Contingent—0. T. B. Carr, of Dnboli.
Third District—James Gavin, of Deoatur. Continfent—Elhanan C. Devore, of Jeanlngs.
Fourth District—Beniamin L. Smith, of Rush. Contineent—Robert H. Power, of Franklin.
Fifth Diitrlot—John M. Lord, of Marlon. ■ Contingent—Cae Bylleid, of Johnson. Sixth District—Ambrose B. Carleton, of Lawr, Contineent—Samuel R. Hamill, of Sullivan.
Seventh Dlstriet—T. F. Davidson, ofFonntaln. Contingent—B. B. Daily, of Carroll.
Eighth DD^t-jjJ^A^^oD^owelL of Grant. Ninth District—John Colerick, of Allen. Contingent—Samuel A. Shoaff, of Jay.
Tenth District—0. II. Main, of Elkhart. Contingent—E. Van Long, of Noble.
Eleventh District—Thos. J. Mer^lfleld, of Val* Contingent—Major George Burson, of Pulaski.
Denaorratle Congrremional Nonslnattwaa First District-William £. Ntblaek. Second District—Michael C. Kerr. Third District—William 8. Holman. Fourth District—John S. Reid. Fifth District—John W. Keightly, Sixth District—Daniel W. Voorhees. Seventh District—Mnhlon D. Manson. Eighth District—Nathan 0. Ross. Ninth District—Robert Lowry. Tenth District—Andrew Ellison. Eleventh Distriet-Mulford K. Farrand.
a«U<M XkMMr, JkU M. .
fkontlern a pious Preebytarlan. wbo fully ibtHwgdlM^Hi imrtm efaeiilgeiluatloti.
REOISTEKI REGISTER!
Oemocrnts, See To It.
We wish to notify the Democracy In time that the Registry Boards will meet on tho ftret Monday and Tuesday of Auguat, and that it is vitally Important that every Democrat in the city should be properly registered In order that time and trouble may be eared on election day. Let every Democrat appoint hlmeelf a committee of one to see that his neighbor is registered, and above all let him not neglect to register himself.
In ninth Congressional
IMstrict.
Appointments
A. B. Carlton, Elector of the Sixth Con* gressional District, will speak at the fol-
lowing times and places:
Oweniburg, Greene County, Monday, Augusts. Bloomttulu, Ureeue County, 'luesday, Augusts. Rowling Uruen, Clay County, Wednesday,
August o. brazil, Cl
Brasil, Clay County, Thursday, August 6. Gosport. Uwcn County, Friday, August 7. Kpencor, Owen County, Saturday, August 8. Speaking to commence at two o’clock p. m. at each place. The friends are requested to have posters printed and
put np. ^ ^ ^ Npenking in Ciermnn.
John R. Jeup, Edltor-ln-Chiof of the Cincinnati Volkg/reund, Will address his German fellow-citizens, at tho following
times and places:
August 3, Lawrenceburgb.
” 4, Columbus. ” 5, Madison. " 6, New Albany. “ 8, Evansville. '• 10, Terre Haute.
“ 12, Indianapolis.
■' 14, Sholbyville.
30-td
DemnernHe Mnna Meeting at Franklin, Johnson County. The Democracy and oonservativen of Johnson county will meet in Mass Convention at Franklin on SATURDAY, AUGUST FIRST. Tho meeting will be addressed by Hon. Joseph E. McDonald and Hon. John W. Kiohtley. Every body is invited to attend and hear these eminent champions of the right discuss the great questions at issue before the country. dAwtd.
DwmocraUc Maettnge. There will be meetings in the various Wards on Friday evening, Jnly 31st, as follows: First and Second Wards, corner of Alabama street and Massachusetts avenue, to he addressed by James M. Mitchell, Eaq., and Hiram 8. Short, Esq. Third and Fourth Wards, corner of West and Indiana avenue, to be addrees by Lewis Jordan, Esq., and Mr. Holeman. Fifth Ward, corner of Kentucky avenue and Tennessee street, speaking by E. C. McDonald and John W. Kilgore. Sixth and Seventh Wards, corner of McCarty and Delaware streets, speaking ny Joseph Niftiol, Esq., candidate for State Senator. Eighth Ward, corner of Virginia avenue and noble street, speaking by Wm. Lowe, Esq. Ninth Ward, corner of Michigan and Noble streets, to be adrfremMti by Wm, Henderson, Esq. It is expected that the Democratic <?!tlxens of the several Wards will make arrangements for seats, etc. By order of the Committee. E. J. Howland, Chairman. Isaac J. Taylor, Secretary. 302t
Whenever It waa neoemary for the boy t< ta&e the gun: that there *as so danger to him) he couldn’t die antfllila predestined time. On one occasion the boy had taken the fun to hunt, and did not return In time to get the eowm. The good woman In silted the lather should go f»r them, but be wanted the gun. His wife ■aid he dld’nt need it any more than the bo y: that there waa no danger; he cotrtd not die before hia predestined time, as he had alwurs said. The father refilled, That Is true of aQ men aa I have taught, and I have no feaf for myself; but suppose
should come across an Indian, and Mis ttml had come, what would I do without
the rifieT
Now, we are somewhat In the situation of the old Presbyterian, We are Surrounded by a dangerous foe, stealthily
mu4h for defbnoe as attack. Armed, not wltl the holy rifle of Parson Beecher, to shoot our opinions into our disagreeing foes; but armed with the ballot, to tho ballot box, for the predestined time of
these radical fttlowa nave come l Whenever nations, parties or men are
predestined to destruction, it is always for violations of the laws of their existence. I propose, to-night, to assign some of the reasons why the time of these fel-
lows has come.
It is conceded by the theory of reconstruction now advocated and, being en-
forced by the_ radical party, that the
union ot the States as It existed under the Constitution from 1787 to 18t)0 is destroyed. The radicele propose, therefore, to make another Unlou—another Government, possessed of larger consolidated powers and a more supreme nationality. They propose that three millions of square miles of National territory as varied In ita climate, its production, its peoples, and its Interest, as any other three millions of square miles on the
globe, although formed into States, shall be governetTby a supreme centralized
le Nation, called
power at the Capital ...»
a Congress, which shall hkve the right, by statute, to bind the States,as communities
in all cases whatsoever.
The radical party have discovered In its eight years of power that the Constitution of the United States under which the Union had increased from thirteen States In 1787, to thirty-four States in 1800, from three millions of people to thirty-two millions: under which Louisiana, Florida, Texas, California and New Mexico had been added to our territory, is not such a Constitution as will enable them to carry on the Government and ‘‘preserve tho life of the Nation.” The Government under Democratic supremacy was acknowledged to be the best, tho most powerful, and the people the freest, less taxed and most prosperous on earth; but in eight years of radical rule it has become so weakened that it requires the absorption of the rights and powers of the States into a consolidated "nation” of absolutely supreme power. Democracy had a Government. Radicalism now demands a Nation. With the radicals everything must be national—a national debt, national banks, national railroads, national insurance companies, national schools, and a national conscience of puritanical creation demanding the extinction of every other; arrogating to itself the power of the Almighty to make a religion for man, and seeking to legislate for God himself. With the radicule there is no progress in God’s own time. They must leave nothing for Him to do. His love, His mercy, His Justice sleeps when their philanthropy awakens. It is their mission to teach, to reform, to govern the world, and to destroy all who aro unwilling to accept their opinions as the oracles of God. They are the selfconstituted missionaries of eternal jus-
tice.
The avowed
.«L4he public s Government
petqMtuity
purpose of Radicalism now
is Reconstruction of the Government, in-
volvlng, as they maintain it mnst do, destruction of the rights of the States, in their words, “the heresy of St
Rights.”
There in not now, neither has there been since I860, any Government of the United States under the Constitution, and reconstruction or restoration is certainly necessary. It is for the people to determine, at the approaching elections, which it shall bo. Restoration brings us back to a constitutional government, to the Union of independent States, and to the Union which our soldiers fought to maintain. Reconstruction proposes to take "the dismembered fragments of this once glorious Union,” to take the territory of sovereign States, and by the power of a dark ignorance and the bayonet te construct a Nation which ' shall have strength, force, as its foundation; a Nation not to be maintained by tho love of a froe.eqnally taxed and prosperous people, but by the armed power of the Nation itself; a Nation where money, capital, credit and force shall be necessary to maintain its authority, and whore these elements shall control every branch of the Government.
To prepare ourselves to Judge whether to will have the Union restored
wo will have the Union restored or permit the radicals to construct a Nation, it may bo well for us now to see what the Union was, what it is now, and what it will be under a oontinucnce of radical
rule.
What was the Union up to 1860? Let us examine its history to determine if a better Union can be created. The first settlers of this country, wheth-
er they were cavaliers, Puritans or Catholics, Dutch, Quakers, or Huguenots,
all Imbued with the spirit of indi-
personal freedom.
were i
vidual liberty — of
Their different habits and manners, how-
Edgerton’s Speech. We publish this morning the able and interesting speech of Mr. Edgerton, the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, delivered at the Metropolitan theater last evening. Mr. Kdoehton discusses the living Issues of the day in a masterly manner, and be presents facts and figures which are worthy the careful consideration of the people. The speech avoids any thing like an appeal to the paesions or prejudices, but is an invincible argument addressed to tho judgment and reason of the governing, as we may better say what should be the governing power of the action, the tax payers and voters. We invite all who wish to render an intelligent verdict at the ballot box upon the vital leaked ftokr before the doufltry, to carefully read the able argument of Mr. Edgerton upon the questions he discusses and which he maintains by an array of indisputable facts and figures.
Stale Polities.
A correspondent writes as as follows: E. B. Goodjkoontz, of Madison County, is spoken of for Common Pleas Judge oi the Eleventh Circuit. It would be an ek» eellent nomination. His high toned, moral character would add sirength to thetldket, giving assurance* of a ftmnful discharge of duty, uninfluenced by party considerations. Such men Are needed on ID#Judiciary at this time.
A member of the Hew Jersey Legislatare has compromised with bis conscience Winvesting Mia pickings and stealings tit oh* seeafon in bib lee and tracts.
has been oUlMd to do he never dMf» home-
over, produced many diversities of legislation and political character, but they were all impelled by a common danger and a common interest, to form some union or confederacy for their mutual protection. The colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, in 1643, formed a league declared to bo perpetual under the name of the United Colonies of New England. This confederacy, the first formed, continued for forty yean, although it was defective in many respects and inefficient asm government. Them waa an absence of an executive head. The acta of the Commissioners from each Colony, forming the Congress, had to be enforced by each separate Colony, ae they did not act upon individuals. There wae no general Judiciary. In 1754, a Congress of Commissioners, representing the Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts,Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, convened at Albany and proposea a plan of Federal government, having a President General, appointed by the Crown of Great Britain, and a grand-council. While this plan provided for a strong Executive, it had no general judiciary add no provision for regulating the currency. The plan wae not accepted by the'Mother country. In May, i776, .he first Congress of the thirteen States assembled; and in Jnly 1776, issued tho Declaration of Independence. In November, 1777, the articles ef confederation were agreed upon. Each State retained ita aovereignty.and independence and such rights as were not delegated to thd general Congress. Under these artiolea of Confederation the war of the revolution waa fought, and the independence of the United States acknowledged by Grist Britain September, 3, 1783. This confederacy hud many palpable deficiencies. There was no Executive in form; no general judiciary; although there was a marine or admiralty court, and a general (ribunal to eettle conflicts and disputes between the several States; but the great detleiency wan that the ar-
Autu oi i^wvuiuvr. isvi. -loose ameouments are all restrictions and limitations on tHT-powers of Congress, and declarations of individual right. They reaffirm the principles of State sovereignty contained In tne articles of confederation, by reserving to the States and the people ail
delegated to the
powers not expressly
United States.
Now, ss we maintain, the Government under which we have lived, which the Constitution created, waa intended to be national In Its national objects only, which were chiefly external; for the separate State governments still existed under their awn constitutions, with their legislative, executive and judicial departments, having for their objects local and internal affairs. Congress could declare war, make peace, enter into treaties, coin money, regulate commerce, and do all acts characteristic of national sovereignty, and all these powers of national sovereignty were prohibited to the States; but all the reserved rights of the States and the / people were
vested by the people in the State Legislatures. Each State retained its muni '
nioipal
sovereignty, while the General Government became sovereign only in a national capacity. The term Federal, which Is applied to our Constitution and Government, implies that each of the States retains Its existence and sovereignty, subject to the limitation* imposed by the Constitution, and is evidently distinguishable from consolidation which would suppose that the separate existence of each State was lost in the general body. The Government of the United States Is a limited system, instituted for specific and particular purposes. The objects it embraces are such as relate to the general Interests of the Union, those of domestic or interior concern belong to the legislatures of the respective States. W hen the term general is applied to the Government of the United States, It refers to the relation in which it stands, and not to the universality of its author-
Ity.
The construction given to the Constitution of the United States by its founders, was accepted and maintained by the Democratic party up to 1860; when the Government passed from its hands to the
then first-born Republican radical party.
enabled the
That construction had
Democratic party Jo secure such legislation only as tended to develop and make available for national wealth and power the Industry of the people of all the States applied to the varied and extensive resources of the whole country; and it permitted no interference on tho part of the general Government with the domestic concerns of any State. It was the energy, the industry of the people, untrameiied and undisturbed by national legislation, which caused the rapid increase and general diffusion of Individual wealth, and which gave us our
national greatness.
It is charged that the Democratic party is not a progressive party: and one would he led to believe, from the declarations of our opponents, that it had accomplished
no good for the country, but had retarded, not secured progress. What hut the Dem-
ocratic party, under and by virtue of the Constitution, purchased Louisiana and Florida, and secured for ever the navigation of the Mississippi river? It fought for free trade and sailors’ rights and carried the country through the war of 1812. It put down the United States bank and paper money and made an independent Treasury, the only Treasury of the Constitution. It put down nullification in 1833; annexed Texas and carried the country through the Mexican war, and secured California and New Mexico.
It insured domestic tranquility, and pro- ’ . ' ‘ U
rnoted the general welfare; and if nation' si legislation had anything to do with the greatness of the country up to 1860, It was the Democratic, and not tho radical, or any other party, which secured it. As I have before said, our country was made up of peoples of different habits and manners—each section had its own peculiarities, and its adaptation for different industrial pursuits; and the Constitution which was adopted, conformed to this condition of things, and was, in
the language of Washington, "the result of a spirit of amitv, and of that mutual
»pe
liarlty of the political situation rendered
iudispensible.”
While each State could not remain absolutely sovereign and independent, nothing was surrendered which took from the .State the absolute control of all domestic and internal concerns; the power to define and punish treason in its own citizens, a power which can not be exercised by any other than a sovereign State, remained wdth the States. The institution of slavery was one of the local concerns of a Stato with which the Constitution did not propose to interfere; but thoso hostile to it, failing to secure that prompt action in the State Legislatures deemed necessary, sought to obtain the intervention of Congress for its abolition. In the first Congress of the United States under tho Constitution, a memorial was presented from tho Penn Society, of Pennsylvania, for tho abolition of slavery. On tho 8th of March, 17B0, Congress declared, “That Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment or them within any of the States, it remaining with the several States alone to provide any regulation therein which humanity and true policy Jiiay re-
quire.”
The Democratic party always maintained this construction of the Constitution, as declared by the first Congress of the United States. But this question was destined to bo tho rock on which the Government was to be wrecked. A party persistent in their efforts to abolish slavery met, upon a common ground, a party as persistent in their effort to perpetuate it, and together, by impassioned appeals to the people North and South— by every expedient and cursed contrivance—they attacked tho constitution and the Democratic party as tho barriers to their success, and in i860, a sectional party triumphed and civil war was the
consequence.
Had the slaveholding States possessed the requisite numerical strength in lt>60 and elected s sectional President, pledged with his party in Congress to carry out a construction ol the Constitution that alavery could be maintained wherever that Constitution was the supreme law of the land, despite the legislation of the States to the contrary, secession would have boon the doctrine of the North, and civil war, on its part, the result. Which par y then would have been responsible for the war? Up tp I860 the Union was a prosperous Union—a Democratic Union. It bad been maintained by tho Democratic party according to tho Constitution. But the war came in consequencd of the election of a sectional President. But as the Democratic party put down nullification, it was
who voted against Lincoln
redeemable
amount 16 «M4,780,600. By this act was tbs door opened for tbm meet stupendous
.,, , . financial frauds ever known to
ready ’to put down secession, peaceably, if possible—by force, if necessary. A
tides of confederation did not act upon individuals, but upon the States; ana to
raise men and money it was necessary to aot through the medium of the eeveral distinct Governments. These deficiencies led to the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, on the 17th of September. 1787, and its ratification soon thereafter by the eeveral States. Under the articles of confederation, the sovereignty and independence of the States could not be questioned. How for, to what extent, each sovereignty and independence were surrendered fa the Constitution, hkve been the giktff questions since its adoption; and to-day these same questions are more important than ever before. We hove to-day, virtually, this question to ask ourselves: Shall Indiana, as a State, govern and tax Indiana people and property within her own borders, or shall New England goveraFue and tax us? If, under the Constitution, there already exists such a consolidated govemfoent m the radicals maintain, the States having no rights of sovereignty and independence, all that has been done or that is proposed to have done by the radical Congress,is right,end we can not justly complain. The . Bopgrese ean appoint military Governors for Indiana, and thereby destroy the Stale government Northern State, to aooept negro suffrage and negro equality; can disfranchise every marl who does not support its foyt c—dekr keregesaakiaiiBk.iegl
peace congress was convened, but it did not secure peace because the destruction of slavery was of more importance to the then majority than the preservation of
the Union. ,
Congress declared the policy of the war in tho Crittenden resolutions, which was acospted as a just policy by all parties except the then disunloniats. But in December folic wing, the position was taken that slavery waa the cause of the war, and, therefore, it was the duty of the Government, in all its branches to remove tbe cause. Thenceforward tbe war, In all ifs phases, became a war for tbe destruction
of'slavery.
THE PNI0N FROM 1860 CHUBB RADICAL „ RULE. The present radical party wae born at this period, and of this feature of the war. Slavery was to be treated as a military question, and In this war policy, and the war power, all were required to acquiesce, Those who dissented were denounced as traitors, disunionists, Southern sympathisers, rebels, copperheads and butternuts. Notwithstanding these charges and denunciations, the preservation of the Union was so firmly fixed in the Democratic party that from it came the best and most powerful sinews of the war. Democratic volunteers filled every camp, and Democratic contributions aided them in tbelr outfits. Democratic blood wm shed upon every battle field, and was needed everywhere except In contracts and plunderings of the treasury. Thsre radicalism was triumphant, and held valiantly the strongest positions of attsek. The whole governing power of the country, at tjjnee in the President, and at times in the Congress, and of tbe State governments, was in ths hands of the radicals, and they new claim that they alone prosecuted the war to a successful issue, put d6wn rebellion, apd destroyed wayery, and saved the Union, I do not propose now to discuss the conduct of the war. nor to dlsprovs aty the assumptions of radicalism in relation to war. Radicalism may enable some mill-
radicalism In and another Seward's ninety da^ I*** •‘“PM He for radicalism t©“a* rt that U, alone, put down the rebellion. Bat for the power of the Democratic party and its devotion to the Union, Robert E. Lee to-day could have reviewed his troops on Boston Common, and Jefferson Davis Issued his orders from the National Capitol! And when radicalism shall, If ever, make it necessary, that same Democratic party will marshal Us hosts in war to put down rebellion and Injustice, as well In Massachusetts as In
South Carolina.
THE UNION FINANCIALLY BEFORE 1860.
The Democratic Union up to 1860 was as successful financially as In the protection • of. ths rights of individuals and of States. The business of the country was left undisturbed, in the hands of inteUli - - -
in tbe bands of intelligent industry. Property pursued Its own level and ebbed and flowed and fluctuated with tbe vicisi-
and fluctuated with the vicisi-
tudes of life. Unnecessary laws were not enacted because they are a wanton Infringement of the rights of personal liberty and judgment. Congress did not assume to be the banker and broker and manufacturer for the people, nor to bestow special rights ana privileges upon a few to make large profits from the many. It established no national toll gates, In the States, upon tbe highways of trade. It created no corporations to be funguses upon the body politic. The Democratic party understood the sources from whieh money for the support of the Government must corns. Government produced nothing—it consumed the money, expended the labor of the people. To obtain it from those who had the most and were beat able to pay was always the policy of the party. Its first great law was
policy of tbe party. Its first great law was economy of expenditure. On the 1st of January, 1791, the national debt was seventy-five millions, and on the 1st of January, 1836, only two hundred and ninety-one thonsand dollars. In the meantime the ordinary expenses of the Government had * been paid, amounting to five hundred and fifty-four millions: Louisiana and Florida purchased ana the war with Great Britain fought. From 1836 to I860, the main source of revenue was from customs, duties, and public Ignds. The public debt was increased during the twenty-
ions, includn war and
the indemnities and purchases consequent upon it. The total ordinarv expenses of the Government in.1860 were but sixty millions and ten thousand dollars; the principal and Interest of the public
debt was increased during tt four years to sixty-foor millioi ing tne expense of the Mexissr
debt paid seventeen millions and fortyfive thousand dollars, making the total
expenditures only $77,065,128, the entire
national debt being 164,769,703.
Tbe policy of the Democratic party had always been to adjust taxation, indirectly, through custom duties, so that the burthens should be as Justly distributed aa posaible. It never favored protective duties, to compel people to pay higher prices for what they consumed than the necessities of Government demanded. Its doctrine was und is now, “That every duty on imports ia incorporated with the price of the commodity and ultimately paid by the consumer, with a profit on the duty itself as a compensation to the merchant for the advance of his money.” This, like every other true principle, is plain, easily comprehended. Any man who fixes it in his mind will never he at a loss to know bow much a tariff proposes to make him pay. Duties are taxet increasing tho price of everything consumed, subject to the duty, whether produced or manufactured at home or abroad. There is no protection to home industry without increase of price to the consumer, and tbe present tariff system of the radicals, on which subject I shall hereafter give my views in full in another speech, is the abomination of all abominations— tho highest patent for robbing the people for a privileged class. Up to, and including I860, I repeat, we administered the Government justly and economically. Its total expenses for that vear were only
•77,000,000.
THE COUNTRY, FINANCIALLY, AFTER 1860. Radicalism took possession of the Government March 4. 1861. Without war there should have neen no Increase in tbe public debt; but war came, and with it the question of means to carry it on. The radicals did not comprehend its magnitude, and could not, therefore, apply
who, to give freedom to the atfgro, loot
th, OMMUon-
military Reoeesity—arbitrary arrests—< bttnals of military JtwtfoH, imfirisonme and punishments* Hugipmslons of press and of private opinion, are a pert of
on U* blackest
for ns, and tax us agatast our willT But ‘ fhe radical peaty shall not e#eapf this radicalism dare not «6<Mpt all the oonse- history. A simple statement of a njpirM
.& 0 . 1 - history will write
ill. But P, 'fh
I e oonse- histoH
proper, intelligent Judgment, financial or
military, to its conduct. The
floating debt
Xhaaa,«ttb4k* addition of the
Issue ot March 8,1864, are the 6-20 bonds
after April SO. 1867, and
loss of mil-
lions upon millions of dollars and thousands of lives was the consequence. Tho President thought seventy-five thousand men, in three months, could put down the reliellion. Ho called for that number, and tho volunteers came and freely gave their lives for their country. The States furnished tho men, and tho .States furnished the money. In fourteen days after the commencement of the war the voluntary contributions of the people of the States amounted to $29,000,0ui), and reached $37,000,000 by the 1st or May, and these voluntary contributions, in various forms, continued until the end of the war. The .states and cities, counties and towns contracted immense war debts, to aid and strengthen the General Government, evidencing that tho latent power to aid and protect the Union was not in General Government, but in the
the
States and tho people. But in addition to all the voluntary aid, the Government, from the first, wanted money. The army of thieves and plunderers came with the army of soldiers; the one to absorb the money of the Government and the other
tojput down rebellion.
The Government had but two ways to obtain money. To go into the open market as a borrower and sell its securities at tbe best price possible, in gold, and boldly to levy a tax at once upon every dollar of wealth to pay the debt, and thus maintain it, until paid, at a gold standard; or to resort to a forced loan from the people. To boldly tax was not radical policy, for the people must he deluded as to the expenses of the war, or they would too closely examine into all its purposes. The Government, therefore, sought capital with securities it dare not, at tbe time, tax the wealth of the country to make good. Capital has no love of country; it never volunteers but for Its own profit. It serves Itself, who ever may be king. As in the day of every nation’s calamity, so in oars, it became at once insolent and exacting. It demanded high rates of Interest and short paper, and obtained them. The Government was a needy borrower, supporting two armies, the soldier in tho field, and the army contractors and thieves and speculators and agents and spies everywhere. Its securities, payable with interest in twelve months in gold, were sold at a discount of twelve per cent., and at the same time New York sold her State securities, having three and a half years to run,at 101K* The States came into the market aa borrowers,with their war debts, and their securities commanded higher prices than those of the General Government. It bad not tbe confidence of capital because it dared not to tax it. To show the power
of the “Nation,” and to convince capital that tbe Government could sustain itself
and pay its debts, a little blood letting was necessary, and the disaster at Bull Run answered every purpose. Even the Government became convinced that the rebellion was not an insignificant, but an earnest, terrible war. The confidence of capital grew weaker from this disaster, and every loan made by the Government became more and more expensive. The reckless expenditures, military blunders, and tbe frauds in contracts of evsry description, did not serve to strengthen confidence. The Government staggered with the burthens of Increasing demands, but capital did not volunteer, as did tbe soldiers, to aid the country. Tbe Banks suspended payment of tpeij: debts, to “save the life of the Nation/’ but withheld their money, individual failures reached nearly si* thousand, with one hundred and seventyeight millions dollars of liabllltlas; yet the people carried on the war, and the soldiers fought for the Union without pay. In the meanwhile, capital held its own, that greater disasters might secure to it greater advantages. The Government had felt its way to a forced loan by tbe Issue of Its demand notes under the acts of July and Auguat, 1861; which, though payable In coin, became irredeemable in coin after the failure of the banks, and were therefore left afloat as a forced
loan.
The loans which were authorized by Congress, instead of being promptly taken by capitalists, to save the life of the Nation when it was in danger, had to be httd by the Secretary of the Treasury, and to be used as collaterals for temporary loans at high rates of intersst. At*
SF.12 cSTUT-K, a SX3&S it. Temporary loans were yet profitable. The Secretary of the Treasury now saw, in the magnitude of the war, that taxation in some instantly productive form, or a forced loan, must come. Ha still feared to tax money, although he waa willing by a high tariff, and tbe internal revenue ayfoem to tax the necessaries and all the Industrial pursuits of tbs country. He fifitr wanted Government notes issued that whan they had depreciated, aa ho knew they mnst do without instant and sufficient taxation to keep them at par
niched to depreciate it. The two modes of borrowing were entlrelv inconsistent with each other, and were intended to hava no other result than the ultimate
benefit Of capital. ‘
Every legal tender note issued under this law and the subsequent ones, was a forced loan from the people, and its depredation, whatever the cause, was an Indirect mode of taxation for its payment more inexorably Just than any which the radical Congress has adopted. Once commenced, the issue of legal tenders should have been continued, in Hen of any other form of Indebtedness, without any provision for ftmding, until the end of the war, when the whole debt of the nation thus created ahould either have been ftmded at ita then value in gold, or been paid—burled—by its still further depreciation with the debt of the revolution,
and the people thereby made free. Deation would have been taxation upon
predation would have r everybody for the extinguishment of the debt; then why again tax the people, as now proposed, under a funding process, for its repayment, and mortgage their property to a bondholder and exempt his wealth from the mortgage? One cause for the undue depreciation of Government secarities, was tne combinations of capital against them for tbe purpose of speculation. But thia capital, ever ready to escape from ita share of the burthens of taxation, no matter in what form they may be imposed, now saw that legal tenders worth, at various times from thirty-five to fifty cents on the dollar, could be converted safely and profitably into 6-20 bonds or other securities at par, the interest, at six per cent, payable semi-annually in gold. Capital could obtain 100 centa for its 35 or 60 and bold ita 100 cents as a first mortgage upon the nation’s industry exempt from taxation. It wae then, and not until then, that capital began “to save the life of the nation.” Why should not this same capital continue to be true to itself and persist as it now does in its demand that its 100 cents should be paid in gold? Every department of ths Government now worked in the interest of capitaltemporary loans — greenbacks and tbe
ding pi
funding process alf available. It waa easy to issue. It was easy to fund and
the process went on rolling*36 and 60 cents
into 100 whenever capital a<
u esired, until at
the end of the war, say August 31,1866, the debt of the nation amounted to $2,757,689,571, with an annual interest of $138,031,628. Of this debt $1,274,478,103 were In temporary loans, except tne ($1,258,000 to the Pacific Railroad one in 18951 drawing currency Interest and payable in currency. No one will pretend that any portion of this temporary debt was gold principal or gold interest debt. It comprised two hundred and seventeen millions compound interest notes due inl866-7; eight hundred and thirty millions of7-30s due in 1867-8; eighty-five millions of six per cent, indebtedness due in 1866; seven-ty-one millions, due at ten days’ notice, at six per cent.; thirty-five millions at five per cent.; and six hundred and eighteen thousand dollars at four per cent.; and thirty-four millions of one and two year five per cent, notes—ail payable in greenbacks. There was also $1,503,020 matured debt, drawing no interest; and $469,505,311 in legal tenders and fractional
Gold was then worth $1 44, and
currency.
the gold value of this debt was about
eight hundred and ninety-two millions Why has this debt, since that time, been consolidated, and through the funding process been made a gold bearing interest debt, with the principal payable in gold, as the holders say? Were the interests of capital or the interests of labor consulted in this funding process? Labor will answer that it was not for its interest. By this funding process a mortgage was
- - gage
placed upon your property and industry “ dli
the interest alone absorbing annually nearly all the profits of your industrial pursuits. Without this funding process it would have beau a mortgage, not payable with interest, the time of payment iudefinite, and the mode more just,*aa the creditors would not have been a class de-
manding special privileges and immunities. Notwithstanding the great advan-
sasSs—
aBSs^ssniisi^
tages offered capital in the funding process it persisted in making temporary loans, as will be seen, at high rates of interest, with abundant security, until the termination of the war, when a permanent value to tbe Government securities was expected from decreased expeuditures. Then it changed its temporary loans or greenbacks into the 5-20 and such other
loans as it could most advantageously ob-
e find these various In
tain; and now we mm tnese various loans in the open market from ten to twelve per cent, premium, held by capitalists, ready for another funding process whenever it can be safely and profitably accom-
plished.
But neither temporary loans nor permanent borrowing furnished the means required for carrying on the war according to the radical demand, and supplying their two armies—the soldiers in tho field and tho thieves and swindlers which now surrounded tho administration and filled nearly every office in the Government. It was therefore necessary, in addition, to tax the people beyond tho real requirements of the war, in every conceivable form. W’hat was tho capacity of the country for revenue was tne first question: and how to collect it and exempt capital the only other. Constantly t>ear in mind my countrymen, that the radical party dare not at the commencement of tho war ; nor daro it now, tax the money capital of the country. It increased customs duties, payable in gold, from 153,187,511 in 1860, under Democratic rule, to •179,146,651 in
1866.
COST OF THE WAR.
The cost of the war, and ordinary expenses of the Government to the present
year already paid by taxes on the people,
not one dollar of whi
ich is included in the
present public debt, is best exhibited by official record. It shows that:
For ths seven years of radical rule, commencing with 1861 and ending with 1867, inclusive, there
was collected in gold from cus-
toms $700,407,041 71 From Internal Revenue 932,100,488 15 From direct Uzei 11,131,645 15 From public lands 4.598,992 87 From miscellaneous sources 213,877,170 33
Total 1,862,115,338 21 Eighteen hundred and sixty-two millions one hundred and fifteen thousand three hundred and thirty eight dollars and twenty-one centa collected from the people, and gone, used up, in seven years! Besides this immense sum already gone, the Government debt of two thousand five hundred millions is yet to be paid, and Its interest in gold—one hnndred and fifty millions annually. In addition to all this there will be the hundreds of millions of dollars in claims growing out of the war, at present unascertained. At this point let me state a peoples’ balance sheet with the radical party:
The Radical party in account with the peo-
ple of ihe United States.
For account collected from ua by
tAMtcon ia aovra year* $1,862,116,338 20
. '•* year*
Por amount expended and squan
dered in one war, 1 included ii
d other
our bond* and other zecuritiea
held by capitalists, not taxable...2.491,501,050 00
$4,353,619,788 30
CBIDIT.
to restore
By one "failnre _
Union by theexperiment of war”..$000,000,000 00
Balance da* from the radical party, for seven years control of the Government, forty-three hundred and fifty-three mllliona aix hundred and twenty-nine thou-
sand seven hundred and eighty-eight dol-
lars and thirty cents! Ada the unascertained debt to this, and the coat of the war, and ordinary expenses of the Government, will be five thousand millions of dollars, at least. Do you ask for what purpose was all this money used ? Ask that question of the Government officials, tbe treasury agents.the Government bankers, the members of Congress, army officers and contractors made rich by the war! They can account for some of it. Inquire at the Freedmen’s Bureau for some of it. Ask Jay Cooke A Co. for some of it! Ask Indiana State officials for some of It! No part of the money made by the whisky rings and the tobacco rings w in* eluded in this immense expenditure. Their money never went into tne Treasury. Yon, consumers, paid this tax dD rect to th* rings, and not te the Treasury. All their plunder of tbe people is in addition to the official statements of expenditures, Bat there fh something beside to be charged to tbe radical party as the cost of the wnr to abolish slavery. Where are the brave men who fought tbe battles of the country? All quiet in tbelr graves! What widow, what orphan bolds a Government bond representing the value of a husband and a father? God does not count money, but be counts these “losses by the war,” and his justice will require from the nation’s payment to him in
fall.
NATIONAL BANKS.
as was alleged, the State banking institutions of the country, over which
rich
the Nations! Government had Ihnretofore no control, were made to yield to tbe financial and political exigencies of rad lea 11am, and compelled to surrender tbelr independent privileges nndcr State laws, and to beeoifr# a part of the financial Iniquities of the General Government. Undoubtedly thia ww a coercive aurrenv dm In many canes; tmt capital In them
8»m3LwRh tyeffi*gapRalto
using their
•f Uphrtlo prodk though eonalMty dovtee* m tho tntereel
_ authMlty of I tho Were a make themselves tbe political adherents
every party In power. At the end of the year 1864, five hundred and seven banks had Invested only $86,782,802 of their capital: In 1865. after the war was over, 1,513 banks had invested $393,157,206; and in & iiSjwwm These banks having become,.
iving
part of the , radical plan oi
finance
And
abide the consequences
,,, .taxation, must now
• —
of the people’s
judgment upon them. They are a part of a system of nuance and taxation to which
a free people will never submit. The wealth of the country, of which they hold a part, in whatever form it exists, must not be exempt, by the national legislature, from equal taxation, by the States, for all purposes. The only security for
entire separation from
bank capital is ita entire separa;
tbe Government debt. It Is no more a
foundation for legitimate banking than State debts, and it ia unsafe for banking capital to give Congress any power or control over its business. The same capital can not be safely twice loaned—once to the Government and then tq the customers of the banks. As these hanks have placed themselves in the arena of politics, and the mqjojrity of them are aiding and abetting radicalism to maintain its hold upon the Government, their relations to the people in this connection must become the subject of condemnation. Our State Convention took decided
people and, as I believe, of the Democracy every where. But our demand Is just and must be heeded by the Government banks. “Hurrah for Jackson, and down with the bank!” was once a potent rallying cry. Every argument used against the old United States bank, can be used with ten fold force against tbe present system.
cent, annually.
In answer to thia statement, I will be have before stated, banks do not pay any 48xas on thglr capital invested, in government bonds. Upon such portion as is not inverted ia government bonds, as I h»ve before stated, they poj one fonrth of one per cent, every six months. They pay on this circulation one per cent, per abnam, and half per cent, per annum on their average deposits. A portion of the taxes paid by them is required to pay the expenses of Government control and man-
agement.
The total taxes paid by the banks for the year ending January 1, 1867, were $5,657,616, of which only $350,544 was a tax on their capital. The railroad companies paid to the General Government the same year, $7,614,448, and the manufacturers of the coal oil you use, paid $6,317,396. For the year 1867, the banks, trust companies, and savings’ institutiona together, paid only $5,815,515, including $476,867 tax on their capital; while the railroad companies paid $7,507,517; tobacco, $15,245,477; cigars, 83,661,984; and coal oil $4,904,761. The banks collect all the taxes they pay from the people, and so do railroads and all
manufacturers.
The Comptroller of the Currency, the special advocate and defender of the national banking system, says, truly: “A tax on any business is paid by the customer. It is so with banks.” Their taxes, therefore, are no more an equivalent
The power of Congress to create a bank or a corporation, and locate it hi a State, will never be admitted by the people; nor
wili Congress be permitted banking interests under it
to hold the
iKing interests unaer its control, te used for the purposes of any party; ' will the banking interests of the
country be permitted to use Congress for its protection and profit. There is no legitimate connection between the banking business of the country and national legislation; and if there were, there is no compensation to the people for the privileges and immunities extended to banking capital under the present system. Banks ot circulation, under State laws, are of questionable utility. The present Secretary of the Treasury, always a banker, In his last report, says upon tho subject: “To all banking systems under which circulating notes are issued, there are grave objections, and if there were none in existence in the United States, the Secretary would hesitate to recommend or endorse even the most perfect that has been devised.” And in relation to the present National banking svstem, he says: “At some more propitious period, when the Union shall have been fully restored, it mav, perhaps, be wise for Congress to consider whether the national.tmnking system may not be dis-
pensed with.”
The existence of any system in violation of the Constitution, profitless to the people, can not be too brief; und if that system be one which creates additional taxes, of which it does not bear its just proportion, which uses its widely extended wealth and influence to keep a party in power that never intend to restore the Union, the sooner it is “dispensed with”
the better.
When a national bank asks from the people friendship and support, and special privileges and immunities, it should be able to show that it furnishes something in return as valuable as that which it receives. Now, what is a national bank under the national banking system? It is one man, or twenty unen, who had money to loan, and they loaned it to the
government of the United States, or what is the same thing, used their money in purchasing its securities in the open market. They preferred this course to loan-
ing their money to individuals. It prom Ised to pay better, and placed their capital, thus loaned, beyond the reach of taxation for any purpose. Some may sav that the banks do pay taxes on their capital invested m Government securities. It is true that they are taxed one-fourth of one per cent, every' six months on the average amount of capital stock beyond the amount invested in Government bonds; that is, on the surplus that can not be added to their capital, to procure circulation, as that is limited in amount in each locality. But this loan to the Government—this investment does not, of itself, make a bank. As a further compensation for “this Nation-saving ■ ” the Government permits the lender
to obtain a circulation—bank notes, for ninety i>er cent, of the loan, which the bank lends to its customers at an agreed rate of interest, paying to the Government for the circulation, half of one per cent, every six months on the average amount. Now, what superior claim has one Government bond over another to a national currency? What special service is rendered to the people by half a million of Government bonds held by a bank in Massachusetts that would not be rendered under the same privileges by any other half million beki by tbe peopleof Indiana? If the business of the country really demands this circulating medium, ‘ why should one class of public creditors only possess the right to its use? Why should Massachusetts have in actual circulation $56,961,665, and all the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Kentucky have only $55,811,475? The power of'New England in the legislation of the country, and her insatiate demands for Government aid, are exhibited in this aa Veil as in the tariffs, to give her cheap, raw material and high prices for her manufactures. But this unjust distribution of Government favors is not now my business. I am opposed to this circulation anywhere. I want the greenbacks. The country, east or west, does not require a circulation inferior and more expensive than the Government itself can furnish in its own legal tender notes. A bank note is a promise to pay a legal tender note—not a dollar in gold. It can not be used to pay a debt unless the creditor is willing to receive it, which proves its Inferiority; and if the attempt be made to convert it into legal tenders, the difficulty and expense will convince any
man that agreenback is at all times pre-
The circulation
ferable. The circulation of national banks is kept everywhere bnt in the place of issue and redemption. The cost of this national banking system to the country consists in its circulation taking the place of a superior one, in the legal tenders, and in the facilities afforded to the banks for making larger profits than are made
by any other business not specially protected by national legislation. No busi-
ness has been so profitable as national banking during its existence. But the radical party devised this system to tax the people, that it might through the power of large profit to capital, secure its influence, and so far it has been successful; for with some rare exceptions, the national banks are the adjuncts ol radi-
calism. That tbe people may judge of the profits of this system of banking, I make
up from the report of the Comptroller of the currency, the following statement. When it is born in mind that all there is of a bank, at any time, is its capital and surplus earnings, whether owned by one man or a hundred, (its circulation, deposits and other liabilities, an excess of these being its debts to the community,) tbe importance of his statement in showing how much a national bank costs a community will be apparent. In 1863, 66 national banks, with a capital and undivided profits of seven millions only, received interest on five end a half millions of loans and discounts, and five million six hundred thousand of Government bonds. In 1864, 507 national banks had a capital of $86,782,600—and $7,992,000, surplus, together $94,785,000, snd they receive interest on $98,000,000 loans and discounts and $108,000,000 of Government bonds. In 1865, 1,513 banks bad a capital and surplus of $464,220,000; and they received interest on $487,000,000 of loans and discounts and $428,000,000 of Government bonds, together $914,801,436, In 1866, 1,643 banks had four hundred and fifteen millions of capital, and eighty-six millions of surplus, and they received interest on six handred and three millions of loans and discounts, and four hundred and twentyseven millions of Government bonds, and sixteen millions of other stocks, bonds and mortgages. In 1867, tjiese 1,643 banks had a capital pf four hundred and twenty million seventy-three thousand four hun-
dred and fifteen dollars, god g surplus of one handred million four hundred
and
sixteen thousand and thirty-three dollars, together five handred and twenty million four hundred and eighty-nine thousand foot hundred and forty-eight dollars; and they received interest on loans and discounts, six hundred and nine million six hundred and seventy-five thousand two hundred and fourteen dollars; on Government bonds, four hundred and eighteen million nine handled and sixty-three thousand dollars; on other stocks, bonds and mortgages, twenty-one million five hundred and seven thousand eight bun
dYed and eighty-one dollars, snd compound Interest notes, fifty-six million
eight^hundred. «pd ej^ht^-elftht thousand one billion one hundred and sgvenimllion thirty-four thousand three hundred and ninety-five dollars. A system which enables five hundred and twenty iptlliona of capital to collect ‘nterest on eleven hundred an* sevsmmUlfoas ot money hseer-
tainly an expensive one to the people. The
interest on the govei
. government bonds was prtd
in gold, whieh would add. forty pe* «*«*. really, to the currency vein* of toaos to the Government, Of thta rt* thoaesnd
dred
ly to tbe * to fifteen , increased ' one hun-
>ns in 1887. to twenty-five per
rt ths snltBs ■eptoel, *
their special privileges and exemptioVf
‘onal
and no more entitle them to a nation currency, than the $2,943,000 paid by boots and shoes, or the $3,195,000 paid by clothing, or the $35,000,000 paid Dy liquors, Is entitled to a currency. The banks have a special privilege for a special radical purpose, which is to concentrate all business, all power and influence, in the Gen-
eral Government.
At this point allow me to refer to the report of the Comptroller of the Currency. He states that the banks have loaned the Government $490,000,000, on which they receive interest annually in gold $19,500,000; but, he says, $150,000,000, never less, generally $180,000,000, are required to be held by the banks constantly in legal tender notes as a reserve per centage of their circulation and deposits, and that this amount is “a gratuitous loan to tbe Government. The banks get no interest on it. It is so much of their capital unproductive, invested in non-interest bearing notes of the Government,” and he therefore thinks that in public estimation nine millions of the interest paid by the Government on this one hundred and fifty millions, should not be considered as received by the banks, because the law requires them to hold one hundred and fifty millions of
legal tenders as a reserve. If the hundred and
fifty millions of
legal tenders held as a reserve by the banks are a gratuitous loan to the Government, why are not all legal tenders a like loan, and why should not all the paper currency be of like character because
tho cheapest and the best?
But the banks do not, in fact, make a gratuitous loan of their legal tenders to tho Government. Forbidden to use their reserve in their own business they remit it to New York, where it is not held in reserve, but is loaned to stock brokers and speculators. Receiving interest on the amount under the name of a deposit, they really loan it on call to the city banks, which in their turn loan it at a
higher rate of interest.
As soon as it is discovered that under the practical workings of any law affecting capital, there is a loss of profits, the law is at once ingeniously changed, as was done in regard to this legal tender reserve. By the law of March 2, 1867, twofifths only of the required reserve need
be kept in legal tenders. The balance
d in
interest paying securi-
could be held
ties.
Now, of what benefit to the people is the national banking system? The money they loan to the Government is of no
.BY higher value than the money loaned by others, and therefore as creditors of the
Government they are entitled to no higher consideration. But they furnish a stable, uniform currency, it Ls said. Is their currency any better, any cheaper than that furnished by the Government itself or any more uniform in value? For the best of their currency they promise to pay legal tenders—greenbacks—said by them to be tho worst of Government securities. If we substitute Government currency for the currency of the banks, we save nineteen millions a year interest in gold, and have a better currency than
they can furnish.
PAYMENT OF BONDS IN GREENBACKS. There has already been si much said on this subject that the people are beginning to fully understand it. It s not to be expected that the holders of Government bonds, as a class, whether National bankers or not, will voluntarily consen' to receive payment in anything but goiu. Capital makes no voluntary sacrifices to any country—to any cause. The power of public opinion, expressed through an official source alone, will convince a bondholder that his interest demands a quiet acquiescence in the public will. Is it against the law, or against public poliev, to pay the present matured debt—the 5-20's—in greenbacks? The law, like every law drawn in the interest or dictated by capital latent, will contain the latent meaning, which, at the proper hour, will be made available. It was known th t Congress, at the time the 5-20 loans were authorised, dare not pass a law to convert a depreciated indebtedness into a six per cent, debt, interest and principal payable in gold. The law, and those following it, were expedients, to enable the Government to carry on the war. They authorised short loans, and it was known that short loans could not be paid in gold; and before capital invested in these loans, it was assured of its certain profit, even upfln the theory of payment or redemption in greenbacks. The law was made by capitalists to be construed to their profit at the proper time by officials iff their interest, and that construction was procured. The Government decision was made in conformity with this intent, against the interests of the people; and now a public opinion based upon that decision, a*d upon the subsequent official action of the Treasury Department, is being manufactured in* the interest of capital, against the letter and spirit of the law, and against all the fhets and opinions cotemporaneous with its passage; that fifty cents in greenbacks were worth one hundred cents in gold, and that Congress intended so to declare! Why Congress might as well have attempted to declare that a thousand ounces of gold bearing quartz was a thousand ounces of gold, and that the people should make it
produce that amount!
It is unnecessary to repeat that the law authorizing the issue of 5-20 bonds did not make the principal payable in gold. Tbe interest was so payable, Tbe Democratic party now maintain that the $514,780,500 of 5-20’s due April 30, 1867, were payable in greenbacks, the lawful money of the United States, because they were not expressly payable, and it was known they could not be paid, in coin. Capital was not deceived. It knew the law, and at the time preferred temporary loans, payable in greenbacks, to the 5-20 loan. The greenback mode of payment of the public debt could have been secured, satisfactory to the whole country, had the Secretary of the Treasury on the 1st of January, 1867, or at any time after the termination of the war, given official no-
tice that all the temporary debts, including the . -2>’s sold and maturing, April 30, 1867, wt re, in his opinion, payable in legal “Tder no.es, and that holde'rs of such
would be required
present
curities
them for payment, and if not presented, they would oe classed as matured debt, and cease to draw interest. This course was legal, practicable and just, and the whole question would have been at once settled in favor of the whole people. But It may be said these temporary debts were convertible into 5-20’. Convert them then, as the law authorized, but apply the law to the 5-20’s. It may be asked where were the legal tenders with which to make payment? I answer, that on the 1st of September, 1865, there were in circulation $710,483,701 of legal tender notes, including fractional currency, and $171,321,903 national bank notes, which, for the purpose indicated, ought to have been as good as legal tenders, together a Government circulation of $881,806,604. Why could not this amount have been continued in circulation by using it to redeem the temporary interest-bearing indebtedness? or even increased to $1,000,000,000 if necessary? There is but one answer. The capitalists demanded a different policy. To aid them, the Secretary of tbe Treasury proposed bringing everything to a specie standard as soon as possible, and to increase the permanent interest-bear-ing debt of the Government and make it equivalent to gold. This course would at ouce settle the construction of all the laws creating the funded debt and render
effectual his opinion that it was payable
He knew that contracting the
in coin, currency
w to a gold standard, by withdrawing legal tenders would make a Government bond of one thousand dollars, bought with greenbacks, payable in one thousand dollars in gold. At the same
time, it would take a piece of land which cost a thousand dollars in greenbacks to
the bold stand: iq behalf of the whole peopler-rthe industrial pursuits of th® country — was not taken, but instead of it the poliof increasing the Government inaebt-
circulation and depositors in paper, and they used their deport tore’ gold to purchase depreciated neper to make the payment. States paid their creditors in paper. Debts due to creditors in this country were paid in depreciated paper, while tbelr debts abroad,had to be paid in gold at ruinous sacrifices. Even* contract or agreement for the payment of money was Instantly changed, upon the ground of public necessitv. If one thing can be done in violation of the Constitution because of great public necessity, why can not another? And certainly why can not a thing be done because of public necessity which Is not a violation of the Constitution, but in pursuance of law authorizing it to be done? The legal tender law is still in force; then why should not the Government hold its creditors to a law applicable to any other class of citizens d creditors? Is the $1,000 bond of the
edneae and depreciating the value of all
adhere^* to, and the contraction of the currency continaednntil it was manifest that the national banks, with their ex. tended circulrtion snd torn deposits, must become the victims; whin, in their
tonototad by
Government, not specifically payable in gold, a more sacred debt than $1,000 in greenbacks? Can the Government now rightfully declare one to be gold and the other not? Did the Government receive more for the one than the other to create equities outside of the law? Is he “loyal/’ who is afraid to hold a greenback for fear of its depreciation? “But if you pay in greenbacks, with what shall the greenbacks be paid?” is the question asked. "They, like the bonds, are evidences of national indebtedness and must be paid in gold some day or repudiated.” The answer is, that both bonds and greenbacks are national indebtedness— one is as sacred as the other—one is interest bearing, the other is not. The time of payment of greenbacks can be as well deferred twenty years as the paymerit of bonds, and then paid as easily^ and the people will be better satisfied with a debt which can be used lor their own convenience in all their business without cost, than a debt not for their use, but on which they must be yearly taxed to pay the interest, and then taxed for the principal in lull when due. Being relieved from the payment of the interest if the debt exists in greenbacks, the country is yearly becoming better able to pay ths principal, which will be greenbacks; for time is given, without cost, for industry to restore the losses of the war, and make all values gold values as they were before; and the greenbacks are a facility to industry, requiring less property and labor to procure than gold. * The business of the country now requres at least one thousand millions of circulation. Th5re was nearly that amount in 1866, and every branch of business then prospered. The paper dollar was then worth as much gold as now. Gold was then $1 44, and it is now $1 44>£. The attempt since made, by force of legislative and official authority, to make a paper dollar worth a gold one, for the benefit of national bondholders, before the industrvof the country had made good the losses of the war, proved disastrous tcrevery business interest. It was at last discovered that what was destroyed could not exist in Government bonds, and the attempt to force gold into them by tho contraction policy was for the time abandoned. But it is said greenbacks will depreciate. To bring greenbacks, or any debt of the Nation, to gold ; requires the industry of the people. No other process can secure it. If the debt continues to depreciate, it must be because the profits of industry are insufficient to sustain it at a gold standard; and that depreciation must be accepted as the only mode of payment which the agencies of*the times can secure. It then becomes as just a mode as any other. If in greenbacks, tho people pay the debt the more easily, because they do not have to pay interest, which in every sixteen years would equal the whole debt without really paving a dollar of it. Some one. I know, will say that it is cheaper to pay interest than to use greenbacks, as bv their use we are obliged to pay an additional price for everything. There is, however, an equivalent for this incrcaseof price in thejfact that labor, and anything subject to value in money, bears its proport ionate relation to the amount of circulating medium, and all interests are therefore effected alike. What is^ the consequence of building up this National debt and aiding the bondholders to hold on to it for tho purposes of speculation? It embarasses and destroys established business, and prevents the developments of material industrv everywhere. Money accumulates at tho financial centers seeking investments, permanent and temporary, in government securities, paying all*the time high rates of interest and exempt from taxation; with the hope of a speculation in their advance to gold. It enables the Vanderbilts and the Drews to control millions of money for the purpose of enriching themselves and their allies, and robbing the small shareholders of the property they devote to their plunder. A«k any 'Western man engaged in mauufao turing, why he can not obtain monev at fair rates of interest to extend his establishments and make his local raw material available for his own and the public <r od. Ask the dealer in cattle, with his wide pastures untrodden bv growing stock, why he is denied the use of money to make his fertile lands earn enough to pay the taxes the radicals have imposed pon him. Ask those who are striving to build your railroads, without Government aid. why it is that no form of security, municipal or corporate, can be negociated for money. Ask your grain and your produce dealers who, if money could be obtained at low rates of interest, would be enabled to pay the producerhigher prices for all his products. Ask all the active, energetic men of the country, those whose enterprise builds vour towns and your cities, and who are* always borrowers of money, whv it is that they are stinted and harfassed*in obtaining loans on legitimate business paper. But one answer will come from all. The money of the country is locked up in Government securities, held not alone for investment, but for speculation, bv advance; to he secured by deluding the
i sacred It is the
hope of still
further advance in value, that keeps the money of the eountry beyond the reach of all industrial pursuits. Liberate this money by the payment of this debt, nowmatured, in greenbacks, as the law authorizes and public necessity demands,and you give instant relief to all interests. The bondholders, the creditors of the Government, not only insist on the payment of their bonds in gold, but that they are exempt, by the law, bv the contract, from taxation. If there be any such law it is a blot upon the nation’s statute book. The wealth of the country, in whatever form it exists, I repeat, ‘should bear ita equal share of the taxes necessary for its maintenance. If Congress has unwisely prohibited the States from taxing government bonds, it yet possesses the power in itself to tax them; and we insist that they should be taxed to an amount equivalent to all taxes, National, State and municipal, upon other wealth and property. Congress has no right to make & contract by which nine-tenths of the people of the country shall be taxed for the benefit of one-tenth who are exempted We are taxed to pay the interest upon government bonds in gold. Government has but one source from which it obtains gold, and that is from custom duties. No bondholder, unless he consumes an article imported from a foreign country which is charged with a duty, pavs one cent of the gold interest he receives. If the principal of the bonds is also to be paid in gold, from what source must the gold come but to force the sales of your property, at gold prices, to pay vour taxes, while the bondholder remains exempt ; or to force you to give still more of your daily labor for every article you con-
sume by reason of this additional tax
upon
it, made necessary to pay the bonds in
gold.
What remedy, I ask yon, have we left against this injustice? I answer, the secret ballot. There is revolution in the ballot, as well as in the bavonet—and it is by far tbe cheapest mocle to effect a change. Better to vote men out of office than to shoot them in office. Vote every radical out of office. Then will the people have declared, through the ballot box. that it is against every principle of eternal justice for Congress, or any other power, to make a contract creating a Government creditor above and beyond the necessities of the people, whose wealth
the friendship and confidence of a
tQil requited
It is this claim of the bondholder to be exempt from taxation which is tbe foundation for s hostility to capital invested in Government bonds, that will never ceaae until some law shall make such wealth taxable for all nurnoses Under whatever garb or guise a man ap-
proaches you,however plausible he may*^ however earnestly he may assert he to your
friend’ hoping for your prosperity, ‘ test him by this question. Are you in
» i - you in favor of taxing bondholders to the same extent that I am taxed? If he hesitates, equivoca l t « 8 — lf •ays Government creditors, public faith, the contract—he is your enemy, not your friend. He may not believe it, but he is a robber. He will take from yon your hard earnings, your money, to do with them what he ia n« willing should be don* with hia own.^ ling should be imposed upon you will
Jour daily b^d7 He Zw
not oome Into yqur house and take the
loaf from your table—that to —but he will buy uo vour n>
aary—but he will buy up your memhe r »f the Legiatature snd ^\SLhSZloc£
toxiood audun-
‘•ke the fruits of y The financial doctriqp ef the